Energy companies stopped almost a fifth of Gulf of Mexico oil production and evacuated staff from 13 platforms ahead of Hurricane Michael. The hurricane has strengthened and is now heading towards the eastern US Gulf.
Offshore producers such as Anadarko Petroleum, BHP Billiton, BP and Chevron have all evacuated staff from their offshore platforms in the Gulf.
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What is more, according to Reuters, companies turned off 324,190 barrels per day of oil and about 284 million cubic feet of natural gas, while five drilling rigs were moved out of the storm’s path.
Namely, Anadarko, Chevron and BHP Billiton stopped their production and evacuated staff at two platforms each, with BP shutting down production at four.
Moreover, Equinor evacuated its Titan production platform and Exxon Mobil evacuated staff from its Lena production platform.
For their part, Hess Corp and Shell are monitoring the storm and will take all necessary action. In fact, Shell is securing some drilling operations, but facilities were staffed and operating.
As for shipping ports, ports such as Gulfport, Pascagoula, Mississippi, Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida, were open until Monday, October 9, but the USCG issued a warning of gale-force winds in the next 48 hours.
